Archi News

The third edition of the Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale opened on January 30, 2026, and will remain on view through May 2, 2026, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Organized by the Diriyah Biennale Foundation, the Biennale takes place at JAX District, a former industrial area in Diriyah near the UNESCO World Heritage Site of At-Turaif. Titled "في الحِلّ والترحال" / In Interludes and Transitions, the exhibition is led by Co-Artistic Directors Nora Razian and Sabih Ahmed, while Milan-based architect Sammy Zarka contributed as the Associate Architect and Exhibition Designer. The exhibition scenography is designed by Formafantasma, and the event brings together more than 65 artists from over 37 countries, including more than 25 newly commissioned works.

The project of the Sacred Village Yawanawá is not just a built ensemble; it is the materialization of a deep dialogue lasting 14 years between Marcelo Rosenbaum and Chief Nixiwaka Biraci Brasil.

On February 5, 2026, Almaty, Kazakhstan's largest metropolis, was officially declared the host city of the 2029 Asian Winter Games. The Host City Contract was signed between the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) and the National Olympic Committee of the Republic of Kazakhstan during a ceremony in Milan, Italy, one of the host cities of the ongoing Winter Olympics. Established in 1986 in Sapporo, Japan, the Asian Winter Games will mark their tenth edition in 2029 and are held approximately every four years. The announcement follows an earlier decision to postpone the Games, which were originally scheduled to take place in the Trojena ski resort, masterplanned by LAVA and currently under construction as part of the NEOM mega-project in Saudi Arabia.

A building still being adjusted, repaired, and debated is declared World Heritage. Another, equally influential, must survive five centuries before anyone considers protecting it. This is not an anomaly in the heritage system; it is the system. Across the world, architecture does not age at the same pace because time itself is not neutral. It is cultural, political, and deeply uneven. What we call "heritage" is not simply old architecture; it is architecture that has reached the right moment in a particular place.

At the heart of the Quartier des Gares, the 900 Saint-Jacques tower offers a contextually sensitive response to contemporary challenges of high density urban living. Built on a site historically perceived as residual space at the edge of the downtown core, the 63-storey tower establishes a cohesive and liveable microcosm within an infrastructural landscape shaped by rail corridors and the Ville-Marie Expressway.

Coastal House in Ocean Grove is a development project designed as a large family home, with an enduring design approach that appeals to the local beach town property market. Commissioned by a local builder with a strong interest in natural, honest materials and the ability to achieve quality fabrication, the shared design and build approach focused on creating a robust home capable of weathering gracefully in a coastal environment, presenting a refined aesthetic that balances solidity with light-filled, open living spaces.

As one of the "largest railway transportation hubs in Asia," Guangzhou Baiyun Station relies on its supporting station complex to realize the "Station-City Integration" model. The interior design of the East Plot Twin Towers takes the architectural and facade logic as its starting point, continuing the morphological language of "High Mountains and Flowing Water." By extending the facade language to the interior scale, the design achieves systematic synergy between the architecture, facade, and interior spaces, facilitating the hub's overall evolution from a mere transportation facility into a vibrant urban public activity space. Standing atop the super TOD hub of Guangzhou Baiyun Station, the twin towers on the East Plot are positioned as headquarters office buildings for unicorn enterprises in the Greater Bay Area. Our vision is not merely to build an office tower above a transportation hub, but to deliver a groundbreaking reinvention of the traditional transit-oriented office model—transforming it from a mere transportation adjunct into a dynamic urban node. Drawing inspiration from the architectural facade language of "High Mountains and Flowing Water," the design allows natural forms and artistic conception to evolve and flourish within the interior spaces. This approach precisely addresses the deep-seated needs of emerging enterprises regarding spatial quality, talent attraction, and community connectivity. Ultimately, it creates a distinctive workplace that fosters connections with nature and culture, all within the context of an intensive and efficient transportation hub.

In Vietnam's accelerating urbanization, particularly in Ho Chi Minh City, the proliferation of new residential quarters has alleviated acute housing shortages yet frequently perpetuated obsolete typologies. Many developments recycle standardized house models from two to three decades past, failing to address contemporary demands adequately for spatial comfort, natural ventilation, daylight penetration, aesthetic sophistication, and personalized habitation.

In this complete renovation project, a 60m² apartment breathes new life, revealing a narrative that delicately blends past and present through architectural finesse.

The new Cultural Center is located in a historic setting that is part of the Flix agricultural cooperative complex. The new space contributes to the recovery and enhancement of the building's historical and social features and elements. The basic interventions to enable the new center's use are: foundation and ground stability, structural consolidation, and comfort of the interior spaces.

The project addresses a challenge shared across Europe: how can we intervene in a complex urban fabric while preserving the histories of its inhabitants and the material traces that shape it? How can one act in an "acupunctural" manner—revitalizing the city without total demolition, without starting from scratch?

The Lishui Airport in Zhejiang Province, designed by MAD, has officially begun operations, marking the regions first direct connection to China's national aviation network. Initiated in 2008 and completed after 17 years of planning and construction, the project signals a new chapter for the mountainous of southwestern Zhejiang.

From the large industrial roofs and galleries of the 19th century to the contemporary atriums of museums and public buildings, glass has been a recurring material in shaping large and monumental interior spaces. More than a technological or engineering solution, these horizontal glazed planes introduce a distinct luminous quality: light that comes from above. Unlike lateral daylight entering through façades, zenithal light is more evenly distributed, reduces harsh shadows, and lends spaces a sense of continuity and openness that is difficult to achieve otherwise.

Rojkind Arquitectos, in collaboration with artist Pedro Reyes, SON Architects, Motus Holdings, and ASAB, has been selected as the winner of the mixed-use component in the International Concept Design and Build Competition for the redevelopment of the Zyber Hallulli site in Tirana, Albania. Organized by the Albanian Investment Corporation in partnership with the National Agency for Territorial Planning, the competition was launched in September 2025, with the jury announcing its decision on January 29, 2026. The proposal led by the Mexico-based office was awarded the mixed-use development, while a separate Mexican practice, Taller Héctor Barroso, was selected to design CASA FAMILIA, a new children's campus to be built on a greener, more child-oriented site.

De Zwarte Fles - Renovation and New Office Volume. Located on the village square of Zwijnaarde, De Zwarte Fles is a layered architectural project that combines the careful renovation of a historic building with the addition of a discreet office volume. The existing structure, dating back to 1616, originally functioned as a country house and later served for many years as a café-restaurant. Over time, the building underwent numerous renovations and alterations, largely aimed at concealing damage caused by ageing and earlier interventions rather than restoring its architectural integrity. Extensive paved terraces surrounded the building, providing additional seating during the summer months.

This week's news landscape brought together diverse approaches to built and cultural heritage, ranging from the design of a Museum of Jesus' Baptism at a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Jordan to major transformations of modern industrial sites and the development of major cultural districts. The World Monuments Fund's support for 21 locally led heritage projects foregrounds conservation strategies that reinforce the role of architecture in safeguarding both material and intangible heritage. Across this week's highlighted projects, adaptive reuse, landscape integration, and the reconfiguration of civic space emerge as recurrent strategies for extending the life and relevance of existing built environments. The projects also reflect broader contemporary concerns, including material research in timber construction, zero-waste urban installations, large-scale residential efficiency, and infrastructure upgrades linked to global events like the Olympic Games. Framing these developments within a wider territorial perspective, discussions on relocating capital cities worldwide offer an example of how geopolitical discourses continue to shape architecture, revealing the evolving relationship between the built environment and structures of power over time.

ArchDaily is looking for Expert Contributor to join our Sponsored Content team. In this role, you will produce high-quality, editorially strong content that highlights architectural products, materials, and projects while maintaining the editorial integrity and design-focused voice that ArchDaily is known for.

Postmodernism in the United States turned architecture into a stage for cultural memory, irony, and heritage at a moment when the built environment was becoming less civic and more commercial and curated. By the late twentieth century, architectural investment no longer centered on monumental public institutions or shared federal commitment to civic space. Private development, corporate expansion, and consumer environments increasingly shaped cities across the country. Buildings took on a new role as cultural images, expected to communicate identity and meaning as much as they provided function.

Historical Facts "La Industrial" Textile Factory - AWAWA is developed in the old factory "La Industrial." Built in the mid-20th century, the factory was one of the city's most prominent textile manufacturing complexes.

Buildner, in collaboration with the City and County of Denver and AIA Colorado, has announced the winners of the Denver Affordable Housing Challenge, an international ideas competition exploring how affordability and design excellence can reinforce one another within the specific urban, social, and environmental context of Denver.